‘What the deuce are you doing here, Hamilton?’ Snark barked belligerently. ‘I thought you were ordered to Singapore a week ago.’ He glared at the lieutenant. ‘Lucky for you I recognized the boat. In another couple of minutes we’d have taken you for a Jap sub and opened fire.’
Hamilton tried to repress a smile. The picket-boat’s antiquated pea-shooter would have been next to useless◦– any self-respecting Japanese submarine would have blown him out of the water inside thirty seconds. And Snark knew it. But it wouldn’t have stopped him from trying.
Snark growled to himself in the darkness. He was glad to have Rapier back, although he had no intention of admitting it. ‘The situation is hopeless,’ he announced bluntly. ‘But the Navy will go down fighting.’ He nodded towards Rapier’s deck gun. ‘I reckon you could do some satisfying damage with that,’ he added wistfully.
Despite his customary mistrust of authority, Hamilton recognized an unexpected determination in Snark’s attitude. The old boy was due for retirement in twelve months and, as an administrator, he couldn’t see further than the nose on his face. But he was a born fighter and a natural leader. And Hamilton had to admire his guts.
‘Please regard Rapier as coming under your orders, sir.’ He could not help feeling slightly amused at the formality of the phrase in the circumstances. With the enemy poised on the northern shore, the crash of exploding shells reverberating across the bay, and the night sky fit by fires still burning on both sides of the narrow straits, two naval officers were quietly deciding the appropriate lines of seniority and command in the approved regulation manner, with a total disregard for the chaos and confusion that surrounded them on all sides. To the impartial observer it was highly incongruous◦– but very British.
‘Thank you, Lieutenant. Your offer is appreciated.’
Snark smiled thinly. ‘But I think you will probably do better if I give you a free hand.’ He paused for a moment. ‘Let me put you in the picture. I’ve organized a make-shift flotilla of small boats to cover the narrows opposite Kowloon. We can’t use our bigger ships at the western end of the Straits◦– the enemy has artillery batteries dug in every hundred yards along the Kowloon waterfront. Firefly is covering the eastern approaches down to Lye Mun Point and Gandy’s Second Flotilla is patrolling Junk Bay. My boats will be keeping an eye on the harbor area down as far as the Sulphur Channel and that leaves our most vulnerable point◦– Quarry Bay and the Taikoo shipyard◦– wide open. If you can maintain a standing patrol in that area during the night, we should have all sectors covered against a landing attempt.’
Hamilton nodded. ‘You realize that I’ll have to dive at dawn, sir,’ he pointed out. ‘I daren’t risk remaining on the surface in daylight.’
‘Quite understood, Lieutenant. In any event, Rapier is far too valuable to lose. After submerging I suggest you withdraw eastwards and remain in the vicinity of Lam Tong Island. The Japs won’t try a daylight attack across the Straits, but they might launch a seaborne assault. If you’re lying off Lam Tong you’ll be protecting our eastern flank, while Circala and Tern are guarding our southern and western coasts.’ Snark drew himself up straight as he brought the discussion to an end. ‘Good luck, Lieutenant. You can rely on the rest of us coming to your support if you need it.’
Hamilton saluted and escorted the captain to the port side, where the men waiting in the steam pinnace helped him safely down the slippery ballast tanks and onto the gunwale. Someone had painted HMS Dreadnought in large black letters on the side of the antediluvian tender and Hamilton could not resist a smile as he saw it. No doubt Snark disapproved of such levity, but he had the wisdom to ignore the wanton desecration of his beloved government property. And Hamilton concluded that the old post captain was probably secretly pleased by this unorthodox demonstration of his men’s high morale.
Black coal smoke and a shower of dancing red sparks erupted from the tender’s spindly funnel as she went astern to clear the submarine and then, with her White Ensign snapping proudly in the breeze, she chugged away until her outline was swallowed up by the darkness.
‘Half-ahead together.’ As Rapier began moving forward Hamilton glanced at Mannon. ‘There’ll be no sleep for us tonight, Number One. And we’ll have to miss our grub.’ He stared out over the starboard side at the opaque blackness that cloaked the mainland. The fires had mostly died away and the darkness added a furtive secrecy to the enemy’s preparations. ‘I wonder what the bastards are up to?’
‘Could we risk going inshore for a quick look, sir?’
‘I suppose we might get away with it if we were to make a high speed run down the coast on the surface,’ Hamilton said thoughtfully. Like Mannon he found the challenge difficult to resist. And the depth of the water precluded a more cautious submerged approach. ‘To hell with it◦– let’s try it!’ He turned to Blood. ‘Cox’n steer towards those fires on the airfield. When we’re half a mile off-shore turn east and follow the coast.’
The fact that Hamilton’s impulsive decision would probably bring Rapier under fire did not seem to unduly worry the phlegmatic Ernie Blood. The old veterans had seen it all before◦– and survived. Having sailed through the Dardanelles with Martin Nasmith’s E.n in 1915 and escaped a steam submarine disaster in the twenties, the coxswain was a fatalist. If his number came up this time he’d had a good innings. And he did not believe in meeting trouble before it arrived.
‘Aye aye, sir.’
Rapier’s bows began to swing to starboard as Blood spun the helm and Hamilton searched the darkness ahead for enemy patrol ships.
‘Ring down for maximum speed, Number One.’ He moved to the front of the bridge and leaned over the screen. ‘We’re going to take a run down the coast, Morgan,’ he shouted to the gunner’s mate. ‘Keep trained to port and load up with HE. If we see anything worth shooting at I’ll give you the word.’
‘Deck gun, aye aye, sir.’
‘Keep your eyes peeled, look-outs! And sing out if you spot anything. But concentrate on the water◦– I’ll watch out for shore targets.’
‘I thought this was a recce run, sir,’ Mannon reminded him quietly. Hamilton’s preparations suggested a rather more active role.
‘Well, I’ve changed my mind, Number One. No point in half measures. If we spot any landing craft I intend to blow ’em out of the water. It’s about time someone remembered that attack is the best means of defense.’
‘Turning to starboard, sir,’ Blood reported.
The barrel on Rapier’s deck gun swung to the left as the coxswain brought the submarine parallel to the northern shore and Hamilton began surveying the mainland through his binoculars as he searched for signs of enemy activity. He knew he was taking a gamble, but the element of risk involved would be reduced to the minimum by the priceless advantage of surprise.
There was certainly plenty going on. Army trucks were creeping along the roads in long straggling convoys and, at odd intervals, Hamilton could see small groups of tents where Japanese soldiers were setting up camp. Other troops were busy clearing the debris of burnt-out aircraft at Kai Tak, so that the landing ground would be ready to receive their own planes at dawn. An engineer unit was hard at work repairing a small road bridge under the inadequate light of storm lanterns that flickered fitfully in the off-shore breeze.